Improvement in distilling apparatus



UNITED STA TES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE RILEY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

IMPROVEMENT IN DISTILLING APPARATUS.

Specileation forming part ol' Letters Patent No. 6,3ll7. dated April 17, 1849.

To (/,Z wit/1m, t muy concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE RILEY, of the city, county, and State of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for Distilling and Rectifying Spirituous Liquors and Turpentine; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the principle or character which distinguishes them from all other things known, and'of the manner of making, constructing, and using the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making part of this specification.

Figure l is an isometrical view of my apparatus; Fig. 2, the inside of the still, (one of its sides being taken off,) showing the interior and the arrangement of its parts. Fig. 3 is a receiver, Fig. 4, a drop -pipe, and Fig. 5 a plate.

The same letters indicate like parts in all the iigures.

The nature of my invention consists in causing the wash-beer or other article to be distilled to be subjected to the action of an ascending current of steam passing up through a series of perforated plates of metal, slate, soapstone, or other material securely fixed in a steam-tight vessel, each plate being provided with a drop-pipe and receiver below, the wash or other article being constantlyv supplied from above, and being deprived of its spirit by the ascending current of steam, (which passes off to the common worm,) the refuse constantly passes off below.

The construction is as follows: I take plates of metal, slate, soapstone, or other material and perforate them with tapered holes of from onesixteenth to one-sixth of an inch in diameter on the face or upper part of the plate, the holes being tapered from the under or bottom part thereof and at equal distances of three-fourths of an inch. At ,about four inches from one corner toward the center a hole, K, is made of sufficient size to receive the tube of the droppipe, Fig. 4, the cup J of which rests upon the plate.` The plates I have of from eighteen inches vto three feet in diameter, according to the work required to be done. I make the total area of the holes such as will admit the steam employed to pass freely through them under a pressure of two or three pounds to the inch.

I prefer soapstone plates for my purpose on account of their non-expansive properties and great durability when properly prepared. These I have made from half-inch to one inch thick, and when properly drilled and smoothed I dip them into the brown glaze commonly used by stoneware-makers and bake them in their stoneware-kiln along with their stoneware. This process, I iind, renders the soapstone much stronger, exceedingly hard, and capable of resisting acids. The droplpipe, Fig. 4, I have made of stoneware, the tube I being eight inches long, the cup J, or part remaining above the plate, being two inches and a half deep and twice t-he diameter ofthe tube. The receivers, Fig. 3, are also of stoneware, three times the inside diameter of the tube of the drop-pipe and four inches high or deep, standing upon three legs of two inches and a half long.

The still or case A may be a square or other formed vessel, one-half inch larger than the plates used, made steam-tight, and held secu rely together with strong grips, and elevated on a frame, B. A pipe, C, enters the bottom of the still for the admission of steam. Four pieces of board three-'fourths of an inch thick and eleven inches deep, and as long as the side of the still will admit, are now nailed to the inner sides of the still, resting on the bottom thereof. These form a shelf or frame for the plate, Fig. 5, to rest upon, which is nowlet down and secured in its place by four other similar pieces of board nailed in the same manner, which forni the shelf or frame for the next plate, which is let down with the y hole for the drop-pipe at the opposite corner, and so on until the fourteen or sixteen plates are placed, which number 'I find enough for all ordinary work. A hole, D, is now made between each of the plates o f sufficient size to admit the drop-pipe and receiver. The drop-pipe and receiver are put in, the droppipe from the iirst plate going into the receiver below, about two inches, and so on with the rest. The receivers are filled with water and the holes made tight with good sound plugs. Above the fifth plate is placed a thermometer, E, with the bulb within the case and the index outside. There is a tube, F, on alevel with the bottom of the still which communicates with the inside. This is of siphon form, bending downward and then turning up again, theoutlet being as high as the part that enters the still. I make the siphon about six feet long to prevent the steam from escaping along with the spent wash or other refuse. rJust above the top plate a pipe, G, enters, which is connected with a reservoir or pump for the purpose of admitting the article to be distilled. Anothei1 tube, H, is xed in the top of the still, and is connected with the com` mon worm.

The operation of the above-described apparatus is as follows: Steamis admitted through the tube C and aseends through the small holes in the plates, the bottom of cach droppipe being immersed in the full receiver below: The steam cannot ascend through them.4

Vhen the whole is hot-known by the steam passing onto the wo1in-astopcock(not shown in the drawings) is opened and the wash or other article to be distilled is admitted on the top plate. As steam is passing up through the small holes in the plate the wash cannot thermometer E, which ought to stand as high as 2IOO Fahrenheit when distilling alcoholic liquors, and at the boiling-point2l2o Fahrenheit-when distilling turpentine.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. Distilling and reetifying spirituous liquors and tnrpentine by causing a current of steam to pass up through a series of perforated metal, slate, soapstone, or other plates securely fixed in a steam-tightvessel, and pro vided with drop pipes and receivers below, through or over which the wash or other article is descending, the apparatus therefor being constructed substantially in the manner described.

2. The use of slate or soapstone plates for this purpose, with or without the combination of the drop-pipes and receivers, made. and used as described.

GEORGE RILEY.

Vitnesses:

D. B. TAYLOR, UZZIAI-r VVENMNN. i

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